This is just what America needs to pass the time this summer -- more guns, explosions, gut kicks and All-American macho bravado with characters named Swagger and Payne.
Shooter returns for Season 2 at 9 p.m. today on USA cable network.
Streamers: Season 1 of the conspiracy thriller is now available on Netflix, Amazon Video, Fandango Now, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu and Xbox.
For those who've forgotten, Shooter is based on the 2007 film of the same name that starred Mark Wahlberg. That was an adaptation of Stephen Hunter's 1993 novel Point of Impact.
Ryan Phillippe (Secrets and Lies) stars as Bob Lee Swagger, the "greatest sniper in the history of the U.S. Marines," who earned the nickname "Bob the Nailer."
Retired and living the quiet life with his wife, Julie, and daughter, Mary, Swagger is coaxed back into action by Isaac Johnson (Omar Epps, House), his former commanding officer, when it's learned there's a sniper plot to kill the president.
Johnson, now a Secret Service agent, needs Swagger's sniper expertise to keep the president safe.
Things quickly go south when Swagger discovers he has been framed in a sweeping conspiracy. Season 1 was spent following Swagger as he worked to protect his family and clear his name.
The series also stars Shantel VanSanten (One Tree Hill) as Swagger's wife, Cynthia Addai-Robinson (The Accountant) as FBI Special Agent Nadine Memphis, and Eddie McClintock (Warehouse 13) as team enforcer Jack Payne.
Guest stars this season include pro wrestling star Randy Orton (WWE Raw), William Fichtner (Prison Break), Desmond Harrington (Dexter) and Beverly D'Angelo (Ellen Griswold in the National Lampoon's Vacation films).
In tonight's episode, "The Hunting Party," it's about a year after the events of Season 1 and Swagger and Julie join his former Marine unit for a banquet in Germany and narrowly escape an attack. This season, members of Swagger's old team are being hunted and killed off one by one.
• Major Crimes, The Last Ship. Judging by my email, fans of these two series are beginning to get anxious, asking if their summer favorites have been canceled.
TNT renewed Major Crimes for a 13-episode sixth season to air "sometime in the fall" with Billy Burke (Zoo) reprising his role of serial rapist/killer Phillip Stroh. The Closer spinoff suffered a 10.8 percent drop in viewership last season, down to a 3.2 million average.
Despite losing 24 percent of its audience (down to 2.2 million), The Last Ship will return with a two-episode Season 4 premiere at 8 p.m. Aug. 20 on TNT.
• A Night With My Ex, 9 p.m. today on Bravo. It's cringe-worthy voyeurism at its creepiest in this new unscripted series. Viewers can spend a half hour being a fly on the wall as former couples spend a night alone in a camera-loaded apartment to see if there's any spark left.
A breathless Bravo tells us, "Viewers will witness startling confessions, wild hook ups and shocking resolutions."
The first episode, "Are You Still a Virgin?," finds Rachel confronting ex-beau Fabian. Then-virgin Rachel ended the relationship when she discovered Fabian had cheated on her. Now he's desperate to win her back, even if she's no longer an unsoiled dove.
Enjoy.
• More Enthusiasm. Good news: HBO has announced that a new season of Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm will finally arrive Oct. 1. Season 8 aired in 2011 and the long-awaited Season 9 has been in the works for more than a year.
Until now, David has been mum on whether there even would be another season of the series, in which he plays a version of himself bumbling through life.
The 70-year-old David, who was brilliant in a recent series of Saturday Night Live impersonations of Bernie Sanders, was the co-creator of Seinfeld, where he was also head writer and executive producer.
• Getting Foxy. Fox News Channel has added former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer as a contributor. Fleischer served under former President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2003.
Fox says Fleischer will provide "strategic communications and political analysis" for Fox News and Fox Business Network.
Meanwhile, The Associated Press reports that suspended FBN host Charles Payne (Making Money) says he will fight charges of sexual harassment "like a lion armed with truth."
Payne's suspension came following a recent National Enquirer story that said Payne acknowledged a three-year extramarital affair with a female political analyst. Payne claims he's being falsely accused.
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Style on 07/18/2017